


Fallback

by Starry_Heartt



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: F/M, Hiatus, M/M, Other, Post Ninjago pilots, They age this time, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, mini major character deaths, shifting pov, they'll be fine i promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:27:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24000568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starry_Heartt/pseuds/Starry_Heartt
Summary: An accidental fall of a ninja soon leads to the oni overtaking Ninjago City. Darkness has won and the ninja has failed.However, when Cole has been presented the chance to save the city from Omega's evil grasp he is faced with more challenges and opportunities than he has bargained for. He now returns to the past to relive his ninja life to stop as much trouble as he can while hiding behind a mask amongst his friends and family.Time travel fix-it starting with season 10HIATUS: due to classes
Relationships: Cole/Kai (Ninjago), Cole/Zane (Ninjago), Nya/Jay Walker, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 32
Kudos: 86





	1. Prologue

The Prologue – Too Late

“I got it! I think I did it!” Cole cheers as he rights himself from nearly falling from the ladder as the Bounty continued to fly higher, away from the tendrils of darkness curling after them in the NGTV building below. It was a short-termed victory however as Jay saw the ladder rope above Cole’s head, the last strand holding the black ninja begin to untwist and thin, baring more weight as they rose higher.

“Cole, look out!” Jay warns but it was too late.

The rope snapped and the sound of Cole’s startled shout was the last thing Jay heard as Cole plummeted into the dark clouds.  
It felt like time slowed down as the black ninja fell. Cole could see Jay, still on the ladder extending out a hand to him, looking distressed. His mouth was moving but Cole could hear nothing. He could see Zane and Kai running up to the edge of the deck to see what Jay was yelling about. Cole wished they didn’t, he wished that they’d have stayed by the deck and comforted the civilians instead of watching him fall because the terrified expressions that morphed into their faces will haunt Cole whether or not he survives this.

Then everything came back at full speed. He falls through the clouds and he shut his eyes hard while shielding his face from inhaling the fumes, bracing for impact. That’s when the sound of breaking glass erupted into the stillness and Cole lost consciousness.

Cole wakes up on the cold floor inside a building, surrounded by suffocating darkness. He felt a chill run up his spine as he quickly got up and looked around, senses high and defensive. Shattered glass encircled Cole’s spot and he glanced up to see a broken glass platform above the roof where he must have crashed through, away from the darkness.  
“Wh-where the heck am I?” Cole asks himself. He remembers saving people from a distressed signal with the other ninjas. A news crew? So this must be The inside of the NGTV building.

_The others. They’re not here are they?_

“Hello? Guys?” Cole shouts but was greeted with no reply.

His feet start to move, bringing him towards the glass exit doors which are currently shut tight against the dark fog. Cole takes out the remote of his Earth Driller and presses the button to summon it. After several tries, it’s clear that the remote has been busted during his crash.

“Damn, what now?” He whispers to himself. Cole searches around the area, throwing mugs and papers from desks and onto the floor. 

“Where is it, where is it. Surely they would have it somewhere- aha!” He crows as he held up a pair of scissors victoriously before heading to the TV room and begins to work on the unlatching remote. The strange lines of wires and cords displayed themselves to Cole once he opened up the outer layer.  
“Oh come on,” He groans “I’m not good at this weird techno-gizmo thing. That’s Zane and Jay’s area!” Well, maybe counting Nya and Pixal too since they’re quite well off in their knowledge with technology, he thought but gave himself a shake. 

_Focus! He needs to get back to help the others._

He recalled a memory where he watched Zane worked with something similar back at the workshop which the nindroid and Jay shared. The titanium ninja was fully focused on the broken tech in front of him that he didn’t notice Cole watching him for a while by the entrance till the white ninja paused to comb through his short hair, bending over the clustered project.  
Zane finally saw Cole and greeted him with a smile before inviting him over to his side to talk as he worked.

Cole is a bit embarrassed to admit that he wasn’t paying too much attention to what Zane was saying back then because he was too busy watching Zane as his heart skipped beats whenever Cole pulled out jokes that startled out a laugh from the nindroid. But now he brings out whatever information that remains of the memory as he starts to refix the remote.

“Please work, please work, please work.” He chanted as he ran back to the glass entrance and clicked on the button. Cole waited and searched around the fog, searching for a sign of his Earth Driller.  
“Please, where are you?” He whispers in dread. He’s going to be stuck here, while the others are out there fighting and the idea of that is terrifying. After some seconds of nothing, Cole sighs and slumps down to the ground in defeat, letting the remote slip off his hand and clatter onto the floor, the sound ringing loud in the empty room.  
Is he going to die here? Oh, dear First, he hopes not. It would be awful to know that after all he’s done and accomplished, he just dies in an empty room like an abandoned dog. 

He just wished…he wished… _what’s that humming noise?_ Cole looked up from his seat and gasped. It was the Earth Driller! It actually worked!

“Yes! I did it!” He cheers. Cole quickly got up as he watched the vehicle stop in front of the building, a few concerning meters away. With the darkness in the middle.

“Ok,” Cole huffs, bouncing on his feet. “I can do this. Just need to be fast about this.” He reassures himself as he gets ready to run, pulling on his hood while jumping in place before sprinting towards the exit with a loud cry.  
“Ninja go!”

The black ninja eventually got into the driller, gasping for air as the lid closed above, allowing him to breathe again.  
“L-let's… never…do that a-again.” He pants as he starts up the manual driving and turned to drive away from the building all while emitting a whooping cheer.  
_Just hold on guys. I’m coming._ Cole thought as he stepped on the accelerator, driving onwards to the monastery.

He may or may not have hit a wandering oni along the way, but nothing’s going slow him down now.

Something was wrong. Cole could feel it as he drove the Earth Driller through the mountain. A strange unease settled onto him as he neared the top of the place, distracting him as he gripped tightly on the wheel.

“I’m sure it’s nothing.” He says to himself “It’s just probably a bad effect the darkness has on me, It’s alright.”

The Earth Driller broke surface and Cole could see that the sky is already showing twilight. Then he noticed the silence. A dead beat silence that never existed in the monastery who’s always full of quiet, pulsing life. It’s gone.

The ninja hops out of the vehicle in alarm but froze in place when his eyes landed on the monastery. Cole begins backs away slowly in disbelief as his breath starts thinning out as he starts he taking in the damage.

Walls of rubble and ruin lay on the ground where tall white walls used to stand, showing the burnt remains of the inside of the temple like a gutted animal left to die.

“No, no, no!” Cole gasps as he starts running past the broken red gates and into the charred building where the common area used to be, sending up smoke and ash under his steps. The heat of the ash feels warm and recent as if the fire’s just recently receding.

He can’t breathe. Tears began to well up in his eyes as his chest filled with sorrow. He’s too late. So, so late and now everyone is gone. Cole fell to his knees, unable to stand on his trembling legs that felt like putty.

A small tink was heard and the ninja glanced down to see a peeking shine of iron beneath the dark ash on the ground. Cole reached and took the item out, holding it close to his chest as he looked closer. It was an arrowhead, simple and sharp with a small teardrop form on it’s middle giving off a low blue glow, the edge of its tail looked broken as if snapped from the shaft.

It is from Zane’s arrow.

The tears began to fall till Cole’s sight blurred, pain and loneliness taking over and clawing wildly at his chest. He clutched the arrowhead tight into his hand as if fearing someone would snatch it away at any moment.

He curled up into himself with a sob, losing his strength.

_Wu, Pixal, Kai, Zane, Jay, Nya…Lloyd, I’m so sorry._

He howled and cried for hours, under the light of the new red-tinted moon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Where did you come from, where did you go -_  
>  _Where did you come from Cotton Angst Joe -_  
>  *tap dances and does the jazz hands*
> 
> wAIT IT'S ONLY TEMPORARY I SWEAR - IT'S NOT LONG - DON'T LEAVE THE FIC!! ˚‧º·(˚ ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅ )‧º·˚ I'm sorryyyy!!


	2. Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting an old friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not even Ninjago can escape the quarantine :D  
> wash your hands and take care of yourself!
> 
> Quick gore warning on this chapter.

Chapter 1 - Last Chance

It had been a month since the death of the ninjas and many have followed by the claws of the Oni.

There’s no other way to call it but ugly, vicious, and _savage._

After taking over New Ninjago they marched out to conquer other farther villages and cities where their darkness couldn’t reach, slaughtering and transforming mortals into contorted beings such as themselves. Many fought back and others went into hiding now half of humanity has fallen, struggling to survive till they’re found and killed.

The army still travels far, already taking half of the land, leaving New Ninjago barren and empty as they trust in the protection of the darkness.

This means they don’t realize the presence of a dark misfit who was running through the street, jumping and dodging tendrils of darkness before sliding into an open store door. They ran back up from the floor and slammed the doors closed from the angry looking darkness, locking it.

Heavy panting was muffled by the dark gas mask on their face as they watched the darkness wriggle aggressively at them before drifting away to find a new victim. 

A long sigh was released from the mask as the figure turned to look over the nearly empty shelves. The misfit looked and checked every corner of the store for any consumable available they could bring back to their base. Storing all the food they could find into their backpack, they paused as a movement by the corner of their eye caught their attention. 

The misfit turned to see a dark, lithe looking Oni watching them with excited glee.

“ _Ohh, It’s been so long since I saw a human._ ” It cooed in its unearthly language, walking towards the crouched person.

The misfit silently stood, taking out their katana and pointed it against the Oni as a warning.  
It laughs, flashing its fangs and wild purple eyes, eyeing down its prey. The misfit snarls back in response.

The Oni leaps after them with its claws unleashed, trying to grab after the dodging stranger. The misfit leaps upwards from another swipe and quickly brought down their katana to its arm, slicing it clean off. The demon screeches in fury but swings its uncut arm towards the misfit who wasn’t able to fall back to the ground fast enough. Sharp claws buried into the stranger’s side who gave a grunt as he was thrown onto the empty stalls. The mask flies away from its strap, bouncing several feet away on the tile floor.

The oni continues to hiss and yowl as it grips at it’s missing limb while the figure struggles to stand back up, hand on his side checking for any injury. 

Cole lifts his head to show his tired eyes narrowed sharply in anger, gripping tightly to his katana before running toward the Oni, leaping high to land a strong kick it’s chest, sending it backward. The demon flies into the shelves with a squawk, causing heavy-looking boxes to fall onto the Oni, burying it and knocking it unconscious. It’s bleeding arm gave off an awful smell to which Cole covers his nose.

The ninja scoffs as he shoulders the backpack on and walks over to where the gas mask has fallen, picking it up and examining it for any chips or broken areas.

“And here I thought you lost yourself, black ninja.” A new voice speaks behind him and Cole yelps, reactively throwing his katana at the direction of the voice only to see a familiar-looking face dodge its blade which embedded itself into the wall behind her.

“M-Mystake?” He whispers, unbelieving. “I-It can be! You’re dead!” Cole runs up to the old oni, taking her wrinkled hand into his scarred ones, still the same as before her capture from Harumi. Mystake gives a cheeky little smile to the awestruck ninja.

“Almost died but it takes a lot to bring down this old Oni, young one. I wasn’t sent here to kill the First Spinjitzu Master for nothing after all.” She answers and affectionately squeezes back Cole’s hand.

Cole says nothing for several moments, gaping and Mystake lets him, giving him time to take in the news.  
Then the dark-haired man slowly pulled the Oni into a hug. I was so heartfelt and emotional being held like such that it left her a bit flustered at the end of it.

“I’m glad you’re ok Mystake.” Cole sighs as he pulls back. “It’s quite comforting to see old faces still alive when the others,” He slows “…th-the others.” Cole huffs in frustration and puts on the gas mask, not noticing the sad expression that glazed Mystake’s eyes.

Cole strides over to the wall, tugging out his katana and sheathing it. 

“Follow me. We’ll talk once we’re somewhere safer.” She says. 

He turns to look at her, seemingly contemplating for a while before nodding.  
“Lead the way.”

The two walked side by side underneath the New Ninjago sewer system. 

Cole’s gasmask hanging by his neck with his hoodie tied to his waist. He ruffles his long hair and tied into a ponytail, slightly overgrown after Cole’s decision to not cut it several weeks after the takeover.

Mystake picks up her speed and walks towards a sewer ladder leading to the surface. Cole approaches it and as she starts climbing upward with a soft grunt. 

“you alright?” Cole asks, watching the elder woman in slight worry and alarm. His arms ready to catch if she falls.

“Of course am!” Mystake huffs before pushing the sewer cover and climbing out to which Cole follows after.

They both exited the hole into an area surrounded by buildings seemingly further from the actual New Ninjago city with a boat and canal at by their side of the sewage. The darkness’ edge seems to have trailed off just around the area. 

The water streams by silently as Cole and Mystake entered a four-story apartment building.

“Please take a seat, I’ll go prepare us something to drink.” Mystake gestures to the low table by the center of the small room.

“You still have drinks?” Cole wonders curiously as he took in the room’s interior. It doesn’t seem to belong to Mystake as there’s hanging pictures of a middle-aged blond man along with people who seems to be his family placed in several areas of the room.  
A small piano rests at the edge of the place, right near the window where the sunlight shined into the room and a three-layered bookcase to the side.

“The Oni doesn’t bother much with human materials and food since they feed more on the darkness so my tea shop has been untouched when I returned to take my things,” Mystake explains, taking out something from the fridge and returning with two newly poured cups of tea.

She sits by the opposite side of Cole, putting the tea onto the table. 

Cole takes off his backpack and places it by the floor near his hip before taking the small cup and lifting it.

“It’s cold.” He comments as he takes a sip of the drink. Mystake smiles into her own cup.

“it’s flavor is more prominent when cold.”

And Cole has to agree as the cold sweet taste of honey and cinnamon took over his senses, reminding him of sugar cakes he and his mother used to make together. Refreshed, he takes another long sip as silence took over the room.

Not for long, however, as Cole spoke.

“Why did you bring me here?” the ninja asks. “To offer me…tea?”

“No,” she says and turns to Cole, her expression sad once more. The dark-haired man watches the table silently before he pulled up enough courage to ask the question that’s been in his tongue for a while.

“H-hey Mystake, how did you find me?” The question felt like ash on his tongue which he chased away with the sweet tea as he took another sip. It, however, did nothing to drive away the silent dread already pooling at his guts.

The oni looked hesitant, fidgeting with her fingers by the table and looking away before she gave a heavy sigh. 

“Omega claimed victory against the ninjas. I didn’t see you amongst them when they were attacked.”

Cole says nothing as Mystake continues sternly. “They fought valiantly till the end. I will say nothing more, all I knew was that you were still out there still living for all of them.”  
Cole wanted to laugh at the irony, of the ninja who fell into the darkness to be the only one to survive.

The black ninja’s hand unconsciously rose to touch the small weight hanging around his neck, thumb quietly stroking the arrowhead’s tip, a sharp reminder of what he had lost. 

Mystake saw the soft glint of blue and said nothing.

The early weeks had been absolute pain, searching and driving around the city, denying that they’re actually dead until Cole finally gave up and moved to survive on his own with a heavy heart. He saved as many citizens as he could from the oni, helping them get to the serpentine tribes underground who agreed to cooperate with the humans and put away their differences against Omega.  
But Cole couldn’t stay. The lost energy was too much for him and needed to move unless he goes insane with grief and depression. He goes out to hunt for food and resources to give to the survivors whenever he drives around with his driller, still looking for survivors but Cole’s luck seems to have worked out for him because his vehicle had just run out of its energy source to continue working today which led to him meeting Mystake once more.

“You were at the monastery?” Cole asks, still fidgeting with the arrowhead of his necklace. 

“Not to fight alongside the oni,” Mystake explains as she takes a small dark wooden box from her sling pouch, placing it carefully to the table. “but to bring the ninjas this.” She says, gesturing for the last ninja to open it.

Cole’s eyes sharpened as he felt a soft wave of energy pulse from the box. It was strange yet simple, it’s wood is a dark rosewood color adorned with a silver handle designed with flowers in it’s front. His hands hesitantly pulled the box closer to his front and opened the wooden lid to reveal a small pile of white herbs that shined like silver, glinting at him.

“What is this?”

“Memoirtea.” She answers. “The last of it’s kind. Its species has been burned away during the serpentine war which is why I saved it for very important emergency cases.” The old oni then looks up at Cole from her rice hat, mischief flashing in her eyes with a smile.

“It gives it’s drinker the ability to fully relive a new life from the past and change their future events.”

“Wait _WHAT?!_ ” Cole yells in surprise, scrambling away from the box as the silver ferns sparkled innocently by the table.

“you’re telling me this tea,” Cole points at the herbs, voice rising to a concerning pitch “is a _time machine??_ ” 

“time machine is an apt description for it, yes but it isn’t really.” She explains as she closes back the lid of the box. “Oh come back Cole, don’t be dramatic.” Mystake watches in amusement as the young man hurriedly sat back down onto his place, hitting the edge of the table with a curse and nearly spilled his drink.

“Why must time always be involved?” he groans. “It’s so _complicated._ First Garmadon, and then the Time-twins. Why couldn’t it be that this tea summons a really cool guardian _mech_ from the sky or something? Or - or give unlimited power against the Omega?? Seriously, _time???_ ” He raves to the oni.

“Dramatic,” She snorts softly but began her story either way.

“A hundred years ago your human ancestors grew medicinal plants that did wonders to the human body. There are five species of herbs that had very special effects that could give humans complex gifts.”  
“The Memoirtea; Moontail, as it was called back then, was one of these herbs and had the gift of second life, where it sends the user to a moment in their life which they wish to relive.”

“It gives them a second life? Like, it lets them relive the past?” he asked to which Mystake hums and takes a sip of her sweet tea. 

“If you don’t listen carefully, you’ll miss the actual point. It gives a second life, not a second _chance_ in life. Its user will now be in a present where the universe is comfortable holding two similar existence at once, a past and future body. It will be the user’s choice to take back their life by killing the past body or live as a new person with their future body.”

“See? I knew it.” The ninja groans into his hands. “Stupid time stuff. It’s never easy.” He grumbles, voice muffled.

“Yes, and it has been so misused to the point it became illegal to ever grow these herbs. When the war broke out between the serpentine and humans, the First Spinjitzu Master commanded Wu and Garmadon to burn any more existence of Moontail that the snakes could use against them. I was lucky to have harvested mine before all the others have been burned.”

“How scandalous of you, Mystake” Cole deadpans, earning a laugh from her.

“At least it was for a good purpose!” she defended.

Cole inhaled and exhaled deeply, still hiding behind his hands as he collected himself. He did this several times before he finally found himself calm enough to think.

“Let me guess: I’m gonna drink the time machine, live a second life in the past and fix everything that involves the oni, and save Ninjago?”

Mystake smiled in reply.

Cole sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Of all the times to be right, it just had to be now.”


	3. Light In The Dark

Chapter 2 - Bright

Cole shifts to his side on the bed, staring out into the empty room hazily lit by the dim moonlight shining through the window shutters.

Cole has fully agreed to take the Memoirtea and began discussing with Mystake more on his new identity for his second life once he goes back to the past. The two brainstormed for a bit then began practicing and rehearsing lines of information until it’s been fully hammered into Cole’s brain he could basically recite it while unconscious. 

His name is Hunter. Born in Ninjago city but left to study abroad for higher education at the age of thirteen. His parents, Jesse and Kojin died in a car accident four years later while he was away. Once he heard the news he left his studies of becoming a designer to work as a part-time singer in a pub until he was invited to practice the art of spinjitzu in the eastern monasteries instead and has now come back to live in Ninjago once more.

A little cliché in Cole’s opinion but Mystake asked if he had a better story to make up for it to which, he admitted, had none.

Once it got late enough, Mystake sent him to a guest room saying she will prepare the tea tomorrow morning where he can start his journey.

That had been two hours ago now, yet he could not sleep.

The black ninja gave a long sigh as he sat up from his bed, kicking away the blanket before walking to his bag where he placed his gi and hooded jacket. Once he finished putting on his clothes he opened up the shutter and window.

Cole looked out to see the fire escape underneath the window and nods to himself, causing some strands of his long hair to fall into his view. Not bothering to keep his hair this time, he tucked the distracting strands behind his ear and climbed out as quietly as he can. He shuts the window close once he’s out and began climbing the metal stairs up to the roof.

Reaching the top, the ninja was greeted with the view of more roofs and canals that used to be shining with light and energy. Now it is nothing but a ghost town. Cole watched it for a moment, reminiscing the past where New Ninjago used to hold so much life and people who greeted each other as they lived happily out their day, trusting in the protection of the ninja.

A cold breeze brushed past his face, playing with his long strands of hair as it danced away into the night.

Cole shook his head, his hands curling into a tight fist while desperately trying to keep the memories and emotions at bay.  
He’s spent plenty of weeks crying already, knowing it’s no use.

That, however, didn’t stop the broken sob that passed his lips as he struggled to breathe once more. His chest felt heavy. Is this even real or is this just a cruel dream he’s about to wake up from? Will this truly work?

He misses them so goddamn much it aches. It aches his very soul; the want to touch them and hug them all close once more, to say he’s sorry for failing them and just hear their voices. 

He misses his family. 

He misses Lloyd; his young, compassionate, and inspiring leader who never goes down without a fight for those he loves.  
He misses the sound of Jay, always chattering about his gadgets and ideas on how to build them with brightness the sun could not compete against. He misses fighting next to Kai, who is always strong and confident in himself in at home or in the battle that it’s an infectious flame to everyone around him. He misses Nya and her cleverness and smarts which kept the energy of the team going and pushing them to do better. He misses Wu, who trained them with patience despite all the trouble they’ve brought him.

He misses…  
_He misses…_

Cole sits down on the roof’s floor, looking up and leaning back onto his hands which supported his weight.

As the stars twinkled down at him Cole felt his chest swell even more with longing.

Great fsm, he misses Zane. He misses his comforting presence, always there ready to give himself for the sake of others. It’s a terrible habit that never should have formed in the first place. He remembers bright beautiful blue eyes that would shine with soft kindness yet contain curious innocence and quickly shift to focused sapphire; sharp and calculating during their fights against the enemies, never failing to taking Cole’s breath away. 

Zane, wonderful and perfect, turning those loving eyes towards Pixal with a warm smile as if she herself had hung the moon and stars.

Even in memory Zane still seems like a dazzling fancy Cole could never reach.

And what’s even crueler is that he will indeed meet them again, but as a stranger whose face they’ve never seen before.  
He’s not Cole anymore. Cole has died with them a long time ago ever since he fell.  
He is now this lonely man named Hunter, sitting on a rooftop, watching the moon and stars in this awfully quiet city.

…He stood up and turned back to the roof, hair whipping back on his head.  
It’s going to be a few hours before he tires himself, might as well make those hours count.  
Cole trained for some hours later, under the evening lights till his body is distracted enough, and started feeling spent.  
He climbed back into his room and fell asleep once his head hit the pillow. He dreams of the falcon, chasing it throughout Ninjago's destroyed land and the feeling of falling _down, down, down_ … 

Mystake prepared Cole a breakfast of canned tuna and rice once he woke up.  
“Thank you,” Cole says as he takes the food from Mystake’s hands and taking a seat on the table’s side.

“The Memoirtea is ready now so eat up. You’ll need your strength once you pass to the other side.”

“Isn’t the tea made to heal bodies in a certain way? Why does it make you tired instead?”

“Well these things aren’t easy to go through, you’ll have to sacrifice some strength for that.”

“No other sacrifices?”

“Hmm. Inform me once you find out more on the other side.” Mystake giggles before leaving Cole alone to eat.  
Cole shakes his head with a snort before tying his hair into a lazy ponytail and began to eat his breakfast.  
Once the ninja has finished, he brought his plate into the kitchen to wash. Cole places the plate into the dryer and wipes his hands with the hand towel hanging by the side of it. Re-entering the living room, he sees Mystake waiting for him with a cup of tea.

The dark-haired ninja couldn’t help but feel nerves begin to run through him. He nods to her and goes to pick up his backpack and katana from the guest room, leaving behind the gas mask as there is no longer a use for it. Cole returns to the living room and stands next to the oni.

“Drink this tea and clear your mind. Think hard on the memory which you want to return to and the magic of the tea will open the bridge for you and you alone.” Mystake instructs carefully, making sure that Cole was paying close attention. The ninja gives a deep exhale as his anxiety began climbing higher.

“This is the only chance we have left. If you fail, there is no more Memoirtea to help us and we’ll have to use the hard way in killing Omega which is nearly impossible.”

 _Thank you so much for that. No pressure at all Mystake._ Cole hissed mentally, trying to relax with deep breaths.

She handed Cole the cup. “Here. Drink when you’re ready.”

Taking the cup into his hands, its silver liquid slushes back and forth.  
“Alright,” he sighs and does his best to clear his mind. He felt the tea’s warm power pulse gently from the cup to his hands, sending small waves of comfort.

He remembered memories that made him happy.  
Memories that he treasured ever since they left him. 

Spending a silent afternoon with Wu in meditation, shopping for groceries under the winter weather while chatting with Nya and Jay, Kai and Lloyd throwing him a mini birthday party with an awful looking cake that seemed to melt with every second it existed, watching Zane happily greet his falcon by the deck on the flying Bounty.

Cole brought the cup to his lips and took a long drink.  
Its taste wasn’t as pretty as it looked. It was bitter and sharp that nearly sent Cole into a coughing fit but he braved it long enough to finish the tea.

The room was quiet and Cole and Mystake waited.

Cole already had a memory planned beforehand and he pushes it to the front of his mind as hard as he could despite his serene face.

Several seconds of quiet passed until the ninja felt a force began to open right before him.

His eyes snapped open as he and Mystake watched a bright door shaped portal appeared before them out of thin air, it’s a white pool of energy that throbbed beneath their feet like small waves on a shore.

“I – I did it.” Cole choked. “I can’t believe it. It’s really happening.”

Mystake turns to him with a proud smile. “Well, what are you waiting for?”

Cole looks at Mystake with unshed tears and a huge smile. He throws himself to Mystake into a tight hug, lifting the oni slightly from the ground with a laugh.

“Thank you. Thank you so much for this, I don’t know how to repay you.”

“Just make sure Omega never steps foot into Ninjago ever again.” She replies, hugging back the ninja.  
They stepped away from each other and Cole gave a determined nod.

“I will.”

Then without any more hesitation, he strides into the portal and disappeared through the bright light.

“Go ninja, go.” Mystake prays as the portal shrinks and disappears, leaving her alone in the small room once again.

The teacup shines as the morning ray passed through the window of a new day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> twitter @ starry_heartt  
> tumblr @ shock-tastic


	4. Unfiltered

Some moments after passing through the portal, Cole slowly opened his eyes against the bright glare of the high noon sun to find himself standing by the edge of a river, surrounded by tall trees. Cold, streaming water flowed past his calves while bird song echoed around the area as the soft breeze played with Cole’s messy hair.

The ninja gave a look at the river’s rippling surface and gave a small chuckle.

It was a rather simple memory of his past but quite memorable, just a week before they had met Kai in the monastery.

It was when he, Jay, and Zane were still training in the rural areas outside of Ninjago, which Sensei Wu sent them to for extra team building. After a long day of practice, he and the other two stumbled into a wide clean river on their way to their camping spot. It was so clean that you could basically see the stones and fish swimming underneath like clear rippling glass.

“The last one in is a rotten ninja!” he remembered Jay yelling as the boy had begun running toward the river with a laugh, stumbling by the long grass as he attempted to strip off their matching black gi while in motion.

Cole gave a bellowing laugh as he and Zane watched the brunette fall to the shore of the river with a yelp from stumbling on a slippery rock.

“Are you alright, Jay?” Zane asked, concerned as he followed Cole in approaching the river where Jay was already swimming in, his gi was discarded on a rock.

“It’s great!” He said before diving into the water for a few seconds before coming back up for air, slicking his hair back

“I can’t believe we’re just finding this place now, it would have been great to hang out here after all of Cole’s back-breaking training.”

“Oi,” Cole scolded, splashing Jay with a naked foot which he dipped into the shore during Zane and Jay’s talk, “I’m not as strict as Sensei Wu though. Be grateful for that, unless you miss catching teapots while balancing on poles.”

Jay sputtered as he wiped away water droplets from his face with a glare at Cole before smiling slyly.

The brown-haired ninja lunged at Cole’s feet with a victorious laugh and began to drag the still clothed Cole into the water as the latter gave a surprised yell and began to kick at Jay.

“I don’t have extras! All my other clothes are used up!”

“Well, boo-hoo for you!”

Jay eventually released Cole after a short struggle, fully soaking the group’s leader and his last gi.

Zane watched as Jay went off to continue swimming around while Cole brought himself back to dry land looking like a wet black puppy with an annoyed expression, startling a laugh from the blonde who tried to muffle his laughter.

“I’ve never seen you like this before.” He had snorted, still trying to contain his laughter.

“Well,” Cole huffed. “It’s not like I make it a habit of getting myself wet with my gi on.”

Zane blinked with a puzzled look. “Why would you want that as a hobby?” He asked with genuine curiosity.

The leader had mused to himself with a hum before an idea came into his mind. He gave a mischievous grin before walking to Zane’s side.

“No, it would be a bad hobby wouldn’t it?”

“Unless you prefer getting soaked on a daily business, I won’t judge you - Cole, w - wait!” 

Zane yelped in alarm when Cole had scooped him up at a startling speed and began running to the water. Zane nervously held onto the dark-haired ninja as he jumped into the river with a whooping shout, splashing onto a surprised Jay who was nearby.

They played and splashed each other all afternoon that day, leaving the river laughing and chatting with an even closer bond with each other.

Cole felt as if a lump lodged itself into his throat, choking him.

He touched the arrowhead with a stuttered sigh, turning his back to the flowing water and left the forest with determined steps towards the rural village.

-

After twenty minutes of cutting through the forest shrubbery with his katana, he finally came onto the road that led to the village.

Gamatoy Village has a small population and its own market and shops for any traveler passing by for trade but isn’t as different from Jamanakai village.

It still had cobbled roads with busy villagers passing by the ninja, some cast curious glances before returning to their duties. Cole decided that the best plan right now was to lay low for some days and avoid bumping into the ninja’s younger selves whilst he’s here. That would mean he would need a place to stay in the meantime.

As he resheathed his katana to his hip, Cole approaches a fruit vendor with a small glance at the colorful array of food before shaking his head with a wistful sigh. He had picked several berries and barely ripe fruits back in the forest, but it wasn’t exactly a satisfying meal.

“Um, excuse me,” he says to the vendor once she was done with a customer. “Are there any inns here that I could stay for a few days?”

“Oh dear, what bad timing.” the middle-aged woman muttered with a shake of her head. “The inn got caught up in a fire incident yesterday and would need to be repaired. They’re not going to have any services for some time.”

“A fire incident? Was anyone hurt?” He asked, looking concerned.

“No, they were just five people at that time which made the evacuation easy. The cause of the fire isn’t known just yet and the other villagers just finished putting out the flames last night.” She explained as a new customer arrived at her stall and began looking through her display of fruits.

“That’s unfortunate,” Cole said, letting out a tired huff. He placed his hands to his hips, akimbo, and looked around in thought.

With no inn around, Cole didn’t have much time to find a safe place to rest up before the tea’s effect hit him. He could return to the forest and make his own camp, but it’s too risky and he would be too weak to escape or fight off an attack. 

“What’s unfortunate?” A low voice asked, cutting off the ninja’s train of thought. It was from the customer beside him.

A man with short brown cropped hair and piercing jade eyes watched him curiously after handing the selected fruits to the vendor woman. He was 3 inches shorter than Cole and wore a dirty yellow windbreaker jacket over his black shirt. Freckles dotted his face, giving him an almost boyish look along with a small beauty mark at the side of his right brow. His eyes were making Cole quite nervous.

He felt heavily scrutinized.

“T - the inn. I just heard the news.” He replied eventually.

“Oh yeah, that,” the freckled man hummed and paid the vendor the number of coins for his products, “you don’t seem to be around here then. Are you a traveler?”

“Yes. I just arrived actually,”

“I see,” he paused again, still observing Cole before turning his gaze to the shop stand once more. Cole nearly sighed a breath of relief once the weighted stare disappeared, “well, I guess I can show you to my uncle, he could help you out,”

The dark-haired ninja blinked, eyes widening in surprise. “Wait really? You’ll help?”

“Unless you give me a reason not to -”

“Don’t mind Nova’s little threats, sir,” the vendor giggled to Cole as she handed the other man a paper bag full of fruits. He took it with a warning glare towards the elder woman, “he may look scary but really he’s really kind once he drops the guard dog act.”

Nova gave an annoyed _‘tch’_ , tucking the bag under his right arm while his other hand gave an embarrassed facepalm.

“How the hell can I threaten suspicious people who enter the village if you keep saying that about me, Mrs. Lily?” The freckled man hissed under his breath.

Cole blinked in surprise. He knew Lily was a common name for girls but he couldn’t help but remember small fleeting memories of his own mother. He often heard his father refer to her as his Tiger Lily as they laughed and danced around the room, thinking Cole was tucked in asleep.

“You’re just using that as an excuse to make newcomers uncomfortable, you bully.” She retorted.

“I’m not discussing this. Goodbye Mrs. Lily,” Nova muttered before turning a heel and walking away.

 _‘It kind of looks more like a stomping march than a walk.’_ Cole thought. A few steps away, Nova stopped to look over his shoulder with an annoyed expression, green eyes pinning Cole once again but less threatening now.

“Aren’t you coming?” He called, but continued on walking before Cole could give a reply.

“I - uh - um, thank you ma’am! I’m gonna have to go now. Sorry!” Cole hurriedly apologized before jogging to catch up to the semi-distant form of Nova as Mrs. Lily waved the two boys goodbye with an amused smile.

“I’m Co - H - Hunter! I mean, my name is Hunter, by the way,” Cole stuttered once he caught up to Nova’s stride.

Now they were walking side by side to whatever direction the guy was taking. They passed by laughing kids playing on the street and more colorful stores filled with different trinkets and scents.

“Cool name. Mine’s Nova,” he said, slowing his walk now, “what are you here for, Hunter?”

“To get some rest and stay here for a couple of days before heading to Ninjago.” He answered easily.

Nova dug a hand onto the paper bag as he asked another question. 

“What’s with the sword?” He gestured his chin to the direction of Cole’s katana by the side of his hip. The ninja looked down, almost forgetting it was there.

“I’m a ninja, trained back at the Ninjago monastery - “ Cole slapped a hand to his mouth in alarm. 

That was too much info. What’s going on? It frightened him how honest his answer was, slipping through his tongue like it was nothing.

The freckled brunette chuckled softly as he pulled out a grape and popped it into his mouth. “A ninja huh? That’s interesting.”

Cole said nothing in return, his hand still covering his mouth as he froze in both confusion and fear. Something was wrong.

The path they were currently on was now empty as the shouts and chatter of the villagers were muffled by the surrounding houses. 

Nova himself stopped walking in front of him and turned to Cole.

Was it the sun’s glare, or were Nova’s eyes glowing just now?

“There’s a reason I was made the high guard of this village in the first place, ninja,” Nova said coldly, a small chuckle sent a chill down Cole’s spine. 

He’s the high guard? He doesn’t even wear the uniform! But now, thinking back to when he and Cole met, his aura was scary enough for people weaker than Cole to back off.

“But there’s something in you as well, Hunter. Something powerful is telling me to give you a chance to stay. So answer this - “

Grabbing Cole’s collar, Nova pulled him close, nearly sending the taller man stumbling.

“ - are you here to harm anyone? To kill?”

Cole felt rather flabbergasted and small under the man’s harsh gaze. It felt like a rock lodged itself onto his throat but he struggled to get his answer out anyway.

“I came here to save, actually.” Cole wheezed.

“What - ” Nova was cut off, giving a grunt of surprise as Cole’s legs buckled, no longer supporting him. 

The shorter man had to hold up the ninja from falling to the ground as his body began to lose energy. Nova - who was now somewhat concerned about him - wrapped an arm around the ninja’s waist and placed the other’s limp arm around his neck to keep him upright.

“S-sorry,” Cole said tiredly as he felt the weight of exhaustion settle onto his body, “I knew this would happen eventually.”

_‘These things aren’t easy to go through. You’ll have to sacrifice some strength for that.’_

It had been two hours since he had entered here and now the side effects were starting to show and god, was it agony. It felt like he had repeatedly run a marathon for days without taking a break.

“Are you dying or something?” Nova asked the now barely-conscious Cole, panting from a suddenly rising fever, “weird, I’ve never buried a body before,” he added as an afterthought.

Despite feeling like absolute _shit_ , Cole couldn’t help but knee Nova in the stomach as hard as he could with whatever energy is left in his melting bones. He sent the high guard into wheezing laughter, clutching his stomach but didn’t go down as Cole had hoped he would.

 _What an asshole_ , he thought before his vision faded to black. Along with the irritating ringing sound of the brunette’s voice as he called his name.

-

Birds. He could hear birds. Sparrows, to be more specific. 

He remembered watching them by the window of his old bedroom, their noises always waking him up early to start the day. His mother would knock on the door to his room and greet him with her wonderful smile.

He missed that smile so much.

_‘Good morning, my little Cole - ‘_

“Hey, are you awake yet?” Nova asked. His voice slicing through the peace of Cole’s slumber.

“Hng,” the dark headed ninja groaned weakly and attempted to open his eyes. 

He could barely see, but he noticed that he was lying on a bed next to an open window with a desk next to him. Nova stood by the end of the bed with a dark colored jacket in his hand.

“Just making sure you’re alive before I head back to work, Hunter.” he explained “, or whatever your name is - I don’t care.” The brunette sighed. 

Cole heard a rustle of a bag and cloth before he barely saw the man put a bottle full of water by the side of the desk of the bed.

“Wait, damn you -” he coughed, feeling how parched his mouth was, instantly reaching to grab the water bottle. 

Opening the drink, the master of earth took large gulps to quench his dry throat, not noticing the other man take a seat by the edge of the bed.

“What are you?”

“Why should you know?” Nova answered, seemingly bored at his attempted investigation.

Cole was so tired. “Please.”

A stretch of silence before the man gave an annoyed sound like a click of a tongue under his breath.

“I found out you were an elemental master once you passed out. Rocks don’t exactly sprout out of the ground like daisies once someone decides to faint face-first into the pavement. Felt bad, so I brought you here.”

The ninja felt a small burst of anger swell from his chest. This is just dancing in circles with no direct answers. 

“That wasn’t my question, I said -”

“ - I’m an elemental too, that’s why!” Nova snapped, making Cole freeze mid sentence.

Nova sighed before falling back into the bed, looking up at the roof. “Not really a cool element like yours, but an element either way. I can pull the truth out of people with questions.”

“That’s not an element.” Cole muttered under his breath. The other man turned his head to give a narrowed glare. 

“What’s your taste in men?”

The ninja gave a snort, rolling his eyes. “Tall, blonde, blue eyes are really nice - “

_Wait._

It was Cole’s turn to give a glare as Nova began cackling a full bellied laugh, slapping his knee.

“What the hell?!”

“I didn’t know that would work!” Nova gasped, wiping away a stray tear as he tried to contain his giggles. “You into dudes, Hunter?”

“Depends on who.” He mumbled. Nova sat up after a deep satisfied sigh.

“As fun as this was, I do need to go work now. My uncle is around the house so if you need anything, just give him a call.” 

“I’ll give him a call on how rude his nephew is alright,” Cole huffs as Nova covers a chuckle. 

“You’re funny, Hunter.”

This was strange, meeting an elemental master so early in his years. Before even properly knowing there were more elements several years later. 

There were already others around him.

Cole watched Nova put on his dark jacket and grabbed a sling bag which the ninja didn’t notice.

Now that he thought about it, maybe the element of Truth could be a thing, like a subsection to Neuro’s element of Mind. 

Nova could be telling the truth, with how he easily made him confess his attraction to a certain tall blonde. Cole looked down to see his hand unconsciously fiddling with the tip of the arrowhead and couldn’t help but feel comfort. 

He was so close.

“Also, Hunter?”

“Hm?” Cole’s head snapped up, seeing Nova halfway out the door with a small grin.

“Nice look you got there. I don’t know if you were hiding it before you fainted, but it’s got a nice charm,” He shrugged before winking at the dark haired man, closing the door behind him, “you shouldn’t hide it!” 

Cole listened to the sound of muffled footsteps leave the room, fading as it went downstairs.

_Nice look?_

Cole fell back onto the bed with thoughts swirling. He gave a long sigh as he listened to the sparrows once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gamatoy Village - Small Village

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: Shock-tastic


End file.
